063-Annual-Report-2023-v13 Final pages - Flipbook - Page 21
ALUMNI UPDATE
Taylor McCarthy
Taylor McCarthy is a kindergarten
teacher at Hollis Academy in Judson,
South Carolina, a school in the
Greenville County School District.
She is an alumna of the College of
Education’s early childhood education
program, and she understands the
importance of meeting each student
where they are, whether they are
native South Carolinians or students
who are newcomers to the state–or the
English language.
When did you know you wanted to be a teacher?
I really was not the kid that grew up knowing they wanted to be a
teacher. I didn’t teach my stuffed animals; that wasn’t really my story. I
just really liked kids, and it felt like the next step was to try education. I
was a kid in a candy shop choosing college because they all looked fun
and I wanted to go to all of them, but when I visited Clemson, something
spoke to me. I knew that this was it, and I just had a peace about it.
Education kind of chose me, honestly. When I started, I didn’t know
that I would still be here 12 years later, and I couldn’t imagine doing
something different.
What is the thing you love about your job the most?
The thing I love most about my job is the relationships that I build with
kids in my class. We come up with class expectations–a class contract–
about what we want or expect from the year. Everybody that’s ever been
in my class knows that our class is a family and that extends beyond the
time that you’re in my class.
The students from my first year of teaching are going to be seniors
this year, which is pretty cool. The class I had while student teaching
graduated last year. I am still in touch with lots of them. I got to go to
a couple of graduations last year and still plan on going to a couple of
graduations this year. I’m going to a basketball game tomorrow for one
of my previous students who’s in high school and is a senior on the
team. Those relationships are really valuable to me and the thing that I
love most about being a teacher.
“I hosted a practicum student from
Clemson last year, and it was such
a wonderful experience. I really
enjoyed getting to shift my role in
the classroom from teacher to the
one facilitating for the practicum
teacher. [The student] was also open
to feedback and had this openness to
any opportunity for growth. It was a
wonderful thing to see in somebody
that’s entering the field because this
is a field that is ever-changing, and
you need to be open to feedback so
that you can grow as an educator.”
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